Okay, well, most of my time in India was in South India. I went to Mumbai for a few days but didn't have time to do anything. (It was for work.) So I can't really help there.
I was in the Philippines for a research project, so that trip was not really like how I usually travel (ie, much nicer). I was mostly in Manila, where I didn't do a lot of tourism stuff because that wasn't why I was there. But we did take a couple days to go to Donsol, which is south of Manila, where we swam with whale sharks and also went on a firefly cruise on the river, a hilariously weird experience because it turned out that the cruise was operating illegally, a police boat stopped us, the cruise operators bribed the police, and then abandoned our boat on the side of the river. The fireflies were AMAZING, though.
Bulgaria is definitely the place I can say the most about because I lived there for a little over two years. I'm trying to think of off the beaten path things, but really, I think Bulgaria in general is off the beaten path, ha! Rila Monastery is definitely a highlight in Bulgaria. Bulgarians also really love their museum towns, like Koprivshtitsa (which is also historically significant), Melnik (which is also famous for its wine), and Arbanasi. A couple of cities that are worth visiting that are a little off the beaten path for travelers who only stop in Sofia are Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria, which has a fun downtown, with lots of little shops in a maze of cobblestone streets, as well as a nice old town and a huge Roman amphitheater, and Veliko Turnavo, the old capital, which has a castle and is really cute.
I only went to Romania for a few days, and I was just in Bucharest. I stayed in a hostel right downtown and had a good time just wandering around. The street system in Bucharest is an absolute DISASTER. A lot of stuff was closed at the time because I really foolishly went during a NATO conference, and there was an abundance of security everywhere. The places that look coolest in Romania are Timisoara and Sibiu, I'd love to visit those cities. Oh, I also spent a lot of time in Giurgiu, where the Romanian side of the BG-RO bridge is, but it wasn't intentional. (Sometimes things just happen when you're traveling in Eastern Europe.) I was somewhat surprised to see that they have a statue of Vlad Tepes (Dracula) in their town square.
I was in the Philippines for a research project, so that trip was not really like how I usually travel (ie, much nicer). I was mostly in Manila, where I didn't do a lot of tourism stuff because that wasn't why I was there. But we did take a couple days to go to Donsol, which is south of Manila, where we swam with whale sharks and also went on a firefly cruise on the river, a hilariously weird experience because it turned out that the cruise was operating illegally, a police boat stopped us, the cruise operators bribed the police, and then abandoned our boat on the side of the river. The fireflies were AMAZING, though.
Bulgaria is definitely the place I can say the most about because I lived there for a little over two years. I'm trying to think of off the beaten path things, but really, I think Bulgaria in general is off the beaten path, ha! Rila Monastery is definitely a highlight in Bulgaria. Bulgarians also really love their museum towns, like Koprivshtitsa (which is also historically significant), Melnik (which is also famous for its wine), and Arbanasi. A couple of cities that are worth visiting that are a little off the beaten path for travelers who only stop in Sofia are Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria, which has a fun downtown, with lots of little shops in a maze of cobblestone streets, as well as a nice old town and a huge Roman amphitheater, and Veliko Turnavo, the old capital, which has a castle and is really cute.
I only went to Romania for a few days, and I was just in Bucharest. I stayed in a hostel right downtown and had a good time just wandering around. The street system in Bucharest is an absolute DISASTER. A lot of stuff was closed at the time because I really foolishly went during a NATO conference, and there was an abundance of security everywhere. The places that look coolest in Romania are Timisoara and Sibiu, I'd love to visit those cities. Oh, I also spent a lot of time in Giurgiu, where the Romanian side of the BG-RO bridge is, but it wasn't intentional. (Sometimes things just happen when you're traveling in Eastern Europe.) I was somewhat surprised to see that they have a statue of Vlad Tepes (Dracula) in their town square.
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